A former Tucson charter school that owes the state millions of dollars for inflating enrollment numbers has closed its only remaining campus and left Arizona .
The School for Integrated Academics and Technology’s Arizona board of directors voted in January to close its Phoenix campus and relinquish its Arizona charter.
SIATech records don’t provide any specific reason the board voted to leave the state. They say only that there was “no feasibility of the (Phoenix) school being kept open.”
Last summer, the Arizona Department of Education ordered the national charter school, which is affiliated with Job Corps, to repay $4.7 million for misclassifying more than 2,000 students between its two campuses as full-time despite most being part-time or not SIATech students at all.
Of the 2,051 students
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SIATech reported as full-time between 2010 and 2013, only four were properly classified, a department audit revealed.
The Phoenix school closed Feb. 3, said Jennifer Liewer, an Department of Education spokeswoman.
The charter school had filed an appeal over the audit, but Liewer said it was withdrawn after the Phoenix school closed.
Liewer said the department is still seeking to collect the money.
SIATech’s two Arizona campuses offered high school curriculum to people enrolled in the Job Corps program.
Job Corps, a federal program created in the 1960s, provides vocational training to troubled youths looking for a second chance.
SIATech’s arrangement with Job Corps let participants earn a high school diploma while enrolled in a vocational program.
But problems arose when SIATech began claiming state funding for Job Corps classes. The Job Corps’ program is not a recognized high school in Arizona, and its classes cannot count toward students’ enrollment status.
In Tucson, SIATech falsely reported 829 students over three years and improperly received $2.2 million from the state.
Together, the two campuses reported 824 students who were not enrolled in any SIATech classes, and 1,223 students who were part-time only.
SIATech’s Tucson campus at the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center, 901 S. Campbell Ave., closed in July.
SIATech officials did not return the Star’s phone calls or respond to email requests for comments.
The Department of Education began looking into SIATech’s practices after it received information from a former employee.
The charter school’s records show its Arizona board of directors had discussed a settlement offer whereby the school would pay the state $50,000 a year for five years, a $250,000 total reimbursement.
Contact reporter Darren DaRonco at 573-4243 or ddaronco@azstarnet.com. Follow on Twitter @DarrenDaRonco
